Banks Charging Money for Deposits? Outrageous says Zerohedge

According to my good friend Tyler over at zerohedge, the Bank of New York's decision to charge institutional accounts with large amounts of cash is heresy. He states that it is a move to drive holders of cash into ponzi investments like US treasuries.

I would like to remind him that that is how banking institutions used to work. They used to charge depositors of gold a storage fee. When those first banks started to loan out certificates of redeemable gold, they became immediately susceptible to bank runs because they would never have all their depositors' coins on hand.

This move by the BoNY needs to be replicated across all banks so that people get accustomed to being charged for having money at banks. Only then can we systematically set up banks that don't lend out money but instead only charged depositors a storage fee. Those banks will never have a run and bailouts will no longer be necessary.

The Top 1%

I came across this fascinating article that was shared via a facebook friend. It breaks down the top 1% into more categories and goes over how they became wealthy, what bennefits they enjoy, and just how effing hard it is to "make it."

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/investment_manager.html

Highlights:

Since the majority of those in this group [the lower half of the top 1%] actually earned their money from professions and smaller businesses, they generally don't participate in the benefits big money enjoys. Those in the 99th to 99.5th percentile lack access to power. For example, most physicians today are having their incomes reduced by HMO's, PPO's and cost controls from Medicare and insurance companies; the legal profession is suffering from excess capacity, declining demand and global outsourcing; successful small businesses struggle with increasing regulation and taxation. I speak daily with these relative winners in the economic hierarchy and many express frustration.

Unlike those in the lower half of the top 1%, those in the top half and, particularly, top 0.1%, can often borrow for almost nothing, keep profits and production overseas, hold personal assets in tax havens, ride out down markets and economies, and influence legislation in the U.S. They have access to the very best in accounting firms, tax and other attorneys, numerous consultants, private wealth managers, a network of other wealthy and powerful friends, lucrative business opportunities, and many other benefits. Most of those in the bottom half of the top 1% lack power and global flexibility and are essentially well-compensated workhorses for the top 0.5%, just like the bottom 99%. In my view, the American dream of striking it rich is merely a well-marketed fantasy that keeps the bottom 99.5% hoping for better and prevents social and political instability. The odds of getting into that top 0.5% are very slim and the door is kept firmly shut by those within it.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this: A highly complex and largely discrete set of laws and exemptions from laws has been put in place by those in the uppermost reaches of the U.S. financial system. It allows them to protect and increase their wealth and significantly affect the U.S. political and legislative processes. They have real power and real wealth. Ordinary citizens in the bottom 99.9% are largely not aware of these systems, do not understand how they work, are unlikely to participate in them, and have little likelihood of entering the top 0.5%, much less the top 0.1%. Moreover, those at the very top have no incentive whatsoever for revealing or changing the rules. I am not optimistic.

Capitalism Distorts the Value of Life

How does one define capitalism? To me, capitalism is the unbridled pursuit of more and more money at any cost. It is greed. However, greed is a human emotion, a human desire. Capitalism is greed on the level of an entire society. It is an entire civilization saying it is okay to desire more money and power without considering the consequences.

Under capitalism, anything rare has a price. "How is this of value to me?" becomes the modus operandi for living and for life. Cash nexus, or trying to put a price on everything, is a process that distorts the true value of commodities, relationships, and ultimately of life.

Capitalism is being able to make and sell widgets for more money than it costs you. It does not take into consideration the sustainability of resources. It is only concerned with making more money. Capitalism is shortsighted, only able to see short-term financial gains and nothing more.

Such a simple concept is illustrated by Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax." Only when unsustainability threatens profits does it become a consideration.

End Central Banking Now

We are anonymous.

The leeches (central bankers) have taken over the host (society). we must fight this infection.

The banks get the big spenders elected who get the US in more debt and more at the mercy and control of the bankers who make the money out of thin air and loan it at interest to the United States.

I am tired of paying 45% tax (35% Federal + 10% State) just to service old debt. Where are the old UNITED STATES NOTES that were declared the only legitimate currency by the Founding Fathers?

The old "United States Notes" were issued debt-free by the treasury.

Our new "Federal Reserve Notes" come with interest and are obligations of the U.S. government. Therefore, under the current regime of money creation, without the national debt there would be no money.

The Fed buys bonds to fund government spending with money it makes out of thin air. Instantly, the U.S. government's money has interest attached to it- interest that has to be paid by future generations through taxation.

The government is a slave to the banksters. We are slaves to the government. Ergo, we are the bankers' slaves.

Toil away, minions. Keep on running on the rat wheel without seeing who put you on there.

Central Banks and the income tax need to be abolished. The power to issue currency needs to go back to the treasury.

We are anonymous.